Mother (in Law)
by herpaderpproductions
Summary: AU Post-Alvarez. Irene mysteriously survives what she thought would be her death, and decides that she should try to do some good in the world. Meanwhile, Jellal is grappling with what to do with his life after he is pardoned. Jerza-centric, mentions of Miraxus, Gajevy, NaLu, Gruvia, etc.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** This has been in my head for a while now because these two are basically a mother/daughter disaster and since Irene's not alive any more we won't get to see this. I decided I wouldn't work on it until I was done with my latest Skip Beat fic and in that time the ideas for this story evolved to something more than a oneshot.

This is AU from the oneshots, and probably very AU from the end of Alvarez/Fairy Tail.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **Prologue**

When Irene woke up, she had no idea where she was. She had thought she was dead – after all, she had pierced her abdomen with a sword filled with dragon slayer magic. It should have, by all means, done the job. Right now she felt incredibly weak. She couldn't feel any magic flowing through her body; instead, her entire torso felt like death. Even a slight twitch caused a wave of severe pain to wrack her.

Irene opened her eyes in an attempt to determine where she was. She could feel that she was on a couch or bed of some sort, so she knew she wasn't outside. Hanging on a wall above her she could see many weapons of several varieties, so she assumed she was in Erza's abode.

Slowly she turned her neck away from the wall to see what else she could. She saw a familiar white-haired girl sitting in a chair across the room from her – it was the girl that "killed" her squad.

"Oh? You're awake?" The girl asked her.

"Yes," Irene's voice croaked out. She could barely see the girl lift a pitcher to pour a glass of cold water for her. The girl walked over to Irene and let her take a few small sips. "What happened?"

The girl pulled up a stool. "When the others arrive, they'll explain it to you. But, Acnologia's been defeated, as has Zeref."

"When will that be?"

Mira lifted up Irene's arm to show her what appeared to be a pink tattoo on her wrist.

"A sensory link?"

"We put one on you and Erza, so that she would know as soon as you woke up. It should only take her a few minutes to get here from the guild hall."

Sure enough, Erza ran in to the room and leaned over Irene. She was followed by several other women, but no men. Irene recognized the blue-haired Dragon Slayer, but none of the others. A middle-aged woman with pale pink hair entered with Wendy. Mavis was not far behind. With them was a young woman with short, light blue hair, a blond celestial spirit mage (Irene knew she was a Heartfilia), and a young woman with long pink hair.

She felt a blanket being pulled off her and realized she was only wearing a robe. It was too painful to resist, but in some ways that was a relief: as a dragon she didn't feel much pain. The middle-aged woman was now leaning over her while Wendy looked on. They worked together to check her torso and change the dressing on the wound where the sword should have been.

"She's healing as expected," a voice said. It wasn't Wendy's, so she assumed it belonged to the woman. "Keep doing whatever it is you're doing. I'll be leaving. I'm sure Wendy can handle anything else you need." Irene heard heavy footsteps leading away from her. Wendy fixed her clothes, and the pink-haired girl set up what she recognized to be a communication lacrima.

"What's going on?" Irene said, feeling pain in her throat as she spoke. Erza pulled a chair up next to her bed.

"We'll explain after everything is set up," Mira said. "You see, this dorm is girls only, and Erza's rather strict about that. All the men that want to listen in are back at the guild waiting for the communication lacrima to ring."

Irene heard voices come through the lacrima, confirming who was listening in. She didn't recognize any of the voices.

"We're good to go then," Erza's commanding voice said.

"Then what's going on?" Irene croaked.

"Somehow, we're not sure how, the dragon slayer magic managed to kill the dragon part of you, but spared the human part," the short blue-haired girl responded.

"That makes no sense," Irene replied. "I should be dead."

"You should be, by all means," the girl confirmed. "You were wholly a dragon biologically. We have no idea how you could have turned back into a human after so long."

"But that also means you're weaker than you were and slower to heal, so you'll need to rest," Wendy's voice interjected. "The wound where the sword went through you is barely healed, and almost all of your ribs are cracked."

Irene didn't know how the cracked ribs happened, but assumed it happened after she 'died.'

"We've used runes to seal all of your magic for now," the short blue-haired girl added. "And there are more runes confining you to this dorm – Fairy Hills – and the Fairy Tail guildhall."

"Why?" Irene knew she was dangerous as a dragon, but as a human she was probably barely stronger than her daughter.

"Erza suggested that it was your transformation into a dragon that caused your madness, so we wanted to give you a chance now that you're human. Of course, we need to be very careful considering your past behavior," a masculine voice came from the lacrima.

Irene's eyes widened, shocked at her daughter's ability to forgive her.

"As our guild has several dragon slayers, we also thought it would be useful to have your expertise at our disposal," the voice from the lacrima continued. "For now, until you are entirely healed and we've decided what to do with you, you will continue to have your magic sealed. Just in case, you will also be living with Erza in Fairy Hills."

"I won't always be here, though," Erza reminded whoever's voice it was.

"So we'll have others come to stay with her – Mira, Lucy, and Wendy have already volunteered," the voice told Erza. "As has Cana, but I don't trust her with Irene."

"Fair enough," Erza sighed. "Do you have any questions?"

"Not right now," Irene admitted. Her head was feeling very fuzzy, as if she was coming out of more than just sleep. She wondered if the craziness from her time as a dragon was wearing off, or if she would still be dangerously mentally unstable. She hoped she would be sane. Not only for her daughter, but also for her daughter's guild. If they were spending the effort trying to save her irredeemable ass, she should spend the effort not to make them regret it. Besides, Acnologia was dead, and now she needed to find something else to live for.

"Good," Erza replied. She shut off the communication lacrima and the women began to file out of the room. Once again, it was only Mira.

"Would you like a sleeping potion?" Mira asked Irene. "It might be easiest to sleep through the pain rather than staying awake."

Irene managed a painful nod and she opened her mouth to welcome the cool liquid Mira poured down it. Soon, she drifted back to sleep, wondering if this was all a dream.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hope you enjoyed!


	2. The Trouble with Freedom

**A/N:** A change of PoV for this chapter! There's some suggestive stuff here, but nothing too bad.

Right now, I'm planning for this to be pretty short, but we saw how that turned out with the last story I planned to be five chapters… So who knows how long this will actually be.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **The Trouble With Freedom**

Jellal sat in the guild master's office with Laxus. Although technically the guild master was Erza, she was busy helping the rebuilding effort in Magnolia and watching over Irene. They all knew that Erza was too addicted to the thrill of missions to ever carry out the duties of a guild master, so they had left any and all duties of it to Laxus until everything could be sorted out and a more permanent new guild master could be officially appointed. Laxus was their best choice with Makarov dead and Gildarts already gone again, and he was expected to get the permanent job, so he had set himself up in Makarov's office.

In the short time since the end of the war, Jellal and Laxus had forged an odd friendship. A lot of their bond was due to their similar ages, temperaments, and pasts, but they had to admit Erza and Mira had played a role as well. If not for the women in their lives, they would have never gotten close enough to each other to remain in contact after the Grand Magic Games.

The two men were sipping beers and sorting through paperwork and communications Laxus had received related to the aftermath of the war and the rebuilding of Fiore. All had been sent from various agencies, from the royal family to the magic council.

From somewhere in the stack a card directly from the king himself emerged. It was addressed to Jellal, so Laxus handed it over to him. Laxus watched intently as Jellal opened it, as if he knew what was inside.

"What's it say?" Laxus asked Jellal as he read.

"My guild has been pardoned," Jellal replied. "The King says we are free to join which ever guilds we please and carry out normal business, although he has asked us to continue hunting down dark guilds under the radar."

"That's good. Where do you want your stamp?" Laxus joked.

"Who said I was joining Fairy Tail?"

"Were you ever not going to?"

Jellal shook his head.

"So where's the stamp going?"

"My right bicep, in scarlet," Jellal requested.

"Shouldn't Erza be here for this? Sounds like you're getting it to match her," Laxus suggested.

"No," Jellal said. His face began to light up in embarrassment.

Laxus pulled out a stamp, "Well, then. Shall we get this over with?"

* * *

After Laxus had stamped his arm, Jellal went to speak to his guild members. He had called them all out to the camp they'd set up in the woods outside of Magnolia as soon as he was out of the guildhall.

His guild took the news of the pardon as well as could be expected. Now he had to make sure they had somewhere to go. Even though Crime Sorciere would likely exist in some form to hunt down dark guilds, they wouldn't be operating full time. Because they were free, they had their own missions to go on and desires to act on.

He was not surprised when Sorano had decided to stay with her sister in Sabertooth. Meredy was likely to stay with Fairy Tail, but she didn't formally announce anything. Sawyer, Richard, Macbeth, and Erik didn't have an opinion on where they'd end up.

He found that after the discussion, all his guild wanted was to be out of their camp in the woods and into a cushy inn. Now that they weren't being hunted, they could afford the luxury of actual bedding. From all the reward money they'd gathered they also had more than enough to pay for it. In the end, only Sawyer, Richard, and Macbeth ended up wanting a room, but Jellal had to arrange it for them. Sorano was staying with Sabertooth at the inn they had booked, Erik was (totally not, he claimed) staying with Kinana, and Meredy was rooming with Juvia at Fairy Hills. Jellal himself was staying with Laxus.

By the time everything was sorted out it was near dusk. He went into the guildhall to find dinner and report back to Laxus about how the meeting went. Jellal knew he would have to send a letter to the king thanking him for his kindness and explaining his guild's future plans. After grabbing a pen and some paper off of Laxus's desk, he sat down in a corner of the guild to begin writing.

Before he could start, a plate of food was placed in front of him. He assumed it was Mira that brought it, but was surprised to look up and find Erza sitting across from him. She put a plate of strawberry cake in front of herself and left another plate of cake next to her.

"Mira said you had news for me?" Erza asked without greeting him.

Jellal, knowing Erza would demand proof, began his explanation by stripping off his coat. He tried to roll up his sleeve to show her his guild mark, but it wouldn't roll up far enough, so he took off his shirt. Erza was blushing across the table from him. The blush turned into a soft smile as she saw the scarlet guild mark that now graced his arm.

Erza slowly began to move her face towards his, as had happened on the beach. He moved his face towards hers, hoping he wouldn't chicken out at the last minute again. Now that he had a pardon, he felt more confident to kiss her without any guilt, but he didn't trust himself not to get nervous at the last second.

"Erza?" Wendy's voice interrupted their moment. Jellal opened his eyes and realized their faces weren't even close enough to worry about being caught kissing. He scrambled to put his shirt back on to cover the guild mark. With the work he had to do he couldn't afford for Fairy Tail to break out into a massive party. "I'm done. Everything's healing as expected, so she'll be okay to eat whatever she wants now. But no alcohol!"

After the shirt was over his head, he looked in Wendy's direction. Standing behind Wendy was a woman that looked almost exactly like Erza. She was trying to pretend that she wasn't hurt, but he could tell she was in pain. Her torso and head were covered in bandages and she kept her arms crossed in front of her chest. Jellal knew she was a powerful mage, but now that she was injured and her powers sealed, Irene hardly looked like it.

"Thank you, Wendy," Erza said. She helped her mother step over the bench to sit down. Irene sat down next to her daughter. "Are you going to join us?"

"No, thank you," Wendy replied. "I have a few more people I need to check up on."

"You're welcome whenever you're done," Erza offered. She stood up to lean into Wendy's ear and whispered something to her. Wendy nodded and walked off.

"You are Jellal, I assume?" Irene asked. Her voice was still raspy.

"Yes," Jellal replied. "It's nice to meet you." It wasn't actually nice to meet her, after Erza had told him her mother's story. Jellal was still bitter about Irene's treatment of her.

"I've heard of your work," Irene said. "It appears you're a powerful mage." It appeared Irene was appraising him. Not that he needed her approval to get with Erza. His hang-ups about their relationship were entirely his own.

"And if I am?" Jellal wasn't as good at playing this game as when he was under Ultear's control, but he knew he would have to communicate with Irene.

Irene smiled at him. It wasn't a sweet smile. Jellal wondered what she could possibly be thinking. Whatever it was didn't strike him as innocent.

"Irene," Erza interjected. "You should eat."

"Cake?" Irene was obviously wondering why she wasn't getting an actual meal.

"It's the first actual food you've tasted for over four hundred years. It should be something memorable," Erza replied. "But if you don't want it, I'll eat it for you."

"No, I'll eat it," Irene said. She used her now weak and shaky hands to pick up her fork. Jellal watched as Erza began to eat her own cake, ignoring her mother's attempts entirely. As the first chunk of cake reached Irene's mouth, she stared at it, then demurely put it into her mouth. Her face developed a look of surprise as she realized her sense of taste had returned. Irene's look of surprise turned into one of pleasure as she proceeded to eat the rest of her cake slice. Jellal tried not to laugh as he watched Irene fall to one of her daughter's guilty pleasures.

"You're not having my cake!" Erza reprimanded her mother as her fork reached for Erza's cake. "Mira! We need another cake over here!"

"Shouldn't she be eating something more nutritious to help her heal?" Jellal proposed.

"Cake is nutritious," Erza declared.

Suddenly the guild doors opened and a bunch of yelling broke out. Jellal worried it was another fight, but it turned out to be much worse. "Crime Sorciere's been pardoned!" A voice called from the front of the hall. Jellal watched in horror as the booze began flowing and members of Fairy Tail came to drag him into the middle of things. He cast a pleading gaze towards Erza, hoping she would help, but she was too focused on protecting her cake from Irene.

Jellal rushed the half-written into the guild master's office so it wouldn't be inadvertently destroyed and returned to the main hall, hoping his guild members would show up soon to deflect the attention from him.

Halfway through the party he finally was able to return to the table to look for Erza, but she and Irene were gone. It appeared they'd gone back to Fairy Hills for the night after finishing their dinner. He sighed and resigned himself to the chaos that was a Fairy Tail party.

* * *

Once the guild members were so drunk they hardly cared about his presence, Jellal thought it was an opportune time to return to Laxus's house without being noticed. He entered, but there was no sign of the dragon slayer.

Jellal knew he needed to use the bathroom before going to bed, so he quickly did so. While he was inside, he swore he heard a feminine voice coming out of Laxus's bedroom. He had an idea of who it could be, but didn't think said woman would stay very long. She was, after all, very loyal to her siblings. He couldn't imagine her spending the night. The one time she had been over since he had begun staying with Laxus, they didn't even stay in his room an hour.

He sat on the couch with a book, hoping he would be able to ignore the rhythmic pounding coming from his friend's bedroom. It would likely be done soon, at which time he could fall asleep.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't on Jellal's side. It was already one in the morning and yet Mira and Laxus seemed insatiable. There were a few brief pauses that he dared hope were the end, but the hope always faded when noise returned. On one hand, he was annoyed; on the other, he was wishing he could spend a similar night with Erza. He knew she was willing, and he had become a lot more willing, but there was no way he would have sex with her when her mother was in hearing range. Still, it gave him an idea.

Jellal found himself sitting outside Erza's bedroom window as he called her communication lacrima. He could see it lighting up on her nightstand. A long, pale arm reached out to grab it and answered.

"Hello?" Erza's sleepy voice came through the lacrima.

"I'm at your window. Can you let me in?" Jellal asked. It was a bit bold, but he knew she would respond kindly to the request.

Erza hung up, and he saw her open the window. She gestured for him to come inside. "You know this is a girl's only dorm?" Erza whispered harshly as he climbed through the window.

"Yeah," Jellal answered. "But I couldn't sleep at Laxus's place tonight." And he knew she would bend the rules for him.

"Why not?" Jellal wondered if he should tell her. If she found out that Mira was having a wild night, Erza would surely want the same thing.

"Laxus and Mira were having a long night," he responded honestly.

Erza's face lit up with a smile mirroring her mother's most devious one. "So you wanted one as well?"

"Not while Irene's in the next room," Jellal reminded her.

"You make a good point," Erza admitted. Still, she helped him strip off his outer layers of clothing and pushed him onto her bed, at which point she promptly fell asleep on top of him.

* * *

When he woke up at sunrise the next morning, Jellal had found that Erza had wrapper herself around him. As he tried to untangle himself from her, he noticed that she was much less covered than he'd noticed the night before. He dared to look to see that she was wearing nothing more than a set of sexy black underwear and a t-shirt that had ridden up her torso. Jellal wondered if she had consciously requipped into it or if it occurred while she was asleep. Last night at the party Lucy had told him that she had a habit of requipping into sexy clothes while asleep if she had a dirty dream. It was at that time he knew he had to leave.

He snuck out of Erza's bed and found a small piece of paper to write her a note on explaining that he would see her at the guild. Jellal dressed himself and jumped out of the window, eager to go to Laxus's and change into clean clothes.

Mercifully, Laxus's home was quiet when Jellal arrived. He wondered if the couple was finally asleep or if they had left early to get to the guild or train. Figuring he'd find out soon enough, Jellal took a long shower and dressed in some of his nicer clothes. If Irene was coming to the guildhall now, he had to care about looking good to impress her.

Entering the guild master's office, he found a rather too happy-looking Laxus sitting at his desk looking through papers with more enthusiasm than ever. Jellal wondered how the hell he had that much energy after the night before.

"Had a good night?" Jellal greeted his friend sarcastically. Laxus looked up.

"Sorry about that," Laxus told Jellal. "But then again I think it led you to have a good night as well. I just hope Erza's slightly less insatiable than Mira. I'm so sore I had to skip my morning workout."

Jellal snorted at his friend's "misfortune." He only wished he didn't have a guild complex (or Erza's mother) in the picture to stop himself from experiencing the same sort of night.

"You didn't do anything?" Laxus asked. He wouldn't tease Jellal about his guilt complex because Laxus knew how that felt, and he could only imagine what it would be like for someone who had done worse than he did. "Oh, Irene's there, right. Yeah, I wouldn't fuck anyone near their mother, and Irene's a really scary mother."

"Honestly, I don't know if she cares," Jellal told Laxus.

"Still wouldn't do it, and you wouldn't either."

"No," Jellal agreed.

"Maybe once you get your guild's shit together we could convince Erza to go on a romantic vacation with you," Laxus suggested. "To get you away from Irene. Or we could have her stay with someone else for the night?"

"Who, though?"

"I don't know. She seems to like Wendy a lot," Laxus shrugged. "But anyways, you gotta finish shit before any of that happens." Laxus pushed Jellal's half-finished letter towards him.

"Of course," Jellal said. He returned to it, equally annoyed that he had to do it and relieved that he could focus on such a simple task compared to his newly complicated relationship with Erza.

* * *

 **A/N:** Jerza has issues with kissing. Not with other contact, just kissing. Idk why but this is my headcanon because look at every interaction they have in the manga.


	3. The Role of a Mother

**A/N:** A change of PoV for this chapter! There's some suggestive stuff here, but nothing too bad.

Right now, I'm planning for this to be pretty short, but we saw how that turned out with the last story I planned to be five chapters… So who knows how long this will actually be.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **The Role of a Mother**

Irene woke up and prepared for another boring day. She was initially annoyed to be confined to the dorm and the guildhall, but found it didn't matter much. It had been two weeks since she awoke and her injuries still made most movements painful. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to move much past her allowed range.

Her "babysitters" had, for the most part, been bad at entertaining her. Erza hardly had time to spend with her, and when she did, she would hand Irene a romance novel or magazine and move on to polishing her armor and weapons.

The white-haired girl, Mira, spent much of her time updating Irene on meaningless news about the guild. The only news she was interested in was the developments between her daughter and Jellal. It was funny to hear how bumbling her daughter was despite her large collection of sexy costumes and romance novels. She also liked to hear about Erza's numerous accomplishments, but didn't dare tell anyone that. Hearing those stories made her daughter grow on her, if only because it assured her that her choice to give up Erza hadn't stopped her from becoming a powerful age. One positive to Mira's visits was the food she brought. Mira was a wonderful cook, and Irene was more than happy to partake in her cooking.

One day she had a mage with light green hair stay with her. The mage had brought her young daughter with her, which made Irene's heart ache. It took her a very long time to admit to Erza that she had given Erza up not because of any animosity towards Erza but rather out of worry that she would harm her daughter. When Irene did admit that, she had taken it upon herself to commit suicide. Watching the little girl play only made Irene regret her decision to abandon Erza more, although it confirmed Irene's opinion that abandoning Erza was the right choice. Irene spent most of that day contemplating her past and ignoring what was happening next to her.

The most intriguing companion ended up the light-blue haired girl, Levy. She was exceptionally smart and eager to have Irene help her fill in the gaps of knowledge about everything from society 400 years prior to dragon slayer magic. As long as Levy didn't ask her any personal questions, Irene was happy to answer. Even when she was fully insane she loved to tell stories and teach others about the past. Now that she was recovering from the damage her transformation into a dragon had done, she was more eager than ever to share stories about the past. When Irene didn't know something or had a question about anything she didn't know, Levy would answer eagerly. Unfortunately for Irene, Levy was often "too busy" to come talk. Based on the girl's more personal questions about dragon slayer behavior, Irene suspected she was "distracted" by a dragon slayer of her own.

The girl she was most excited to see by far was Wendy. The girl was still rather scared of Irene after what Irene had done during the war. Still, she was brave and above all extremely talented at both dragon slayer magic and enchantment. That made Irene eager to take the young mage on as a student. She wouldn't teach Wendy any more dragon slayer magic – even though Wendy had told Irene that her transformation into a dragon had been halted, Irene had her concerns. Instead, Irene wanted to see how talented Wendy was in enchantment. Wendy was skeptical about any lessons from Irene, so she was slow on the uptake. That didn't stop Irene from slowly interesting her in the topic. Irene was also interested in how far her transformation had gotten before it was halted. She didn't want to have to teach Wendy about how puberty would affect her, but there was no way the other dragon slayers would tell her even if they had gone through it and knew.

There was only one girl she would unashamedly talk about inappropriate things to. Cana was never allowed to stay with her in Erza's room, possibly because of her drinking problem, but made sure to entertain Irene with her drunken stories and perverted conversation topics when Irene decided to soak in the bath long enough. A few times Cana had even snuck in sake for Irene to drink. Although Wendy had told Irene she shouldn't, Cana had made sure that Irene did partake in the beverage.

Today was the first day she was left alone to her own devices for more than a couple of minutes. All she had really done was read another one of Erza's romance novels. For all that others made fun of them, Irene realized they were an addiction she shared with her daughter. It was a necessary addiction, as it was all she had to save her from boredom most days.

A few hours into her peaceful day alone, the door slammed open and Erza stomped through her rooms towards Irene's couch. Irene wondered what her daughter could possibly be so eager to ask her.

"Irene," she barked out. "Do dragons have a mating season?"

Irene was a bit taken aback by the question. According to Mira, Jellal was an impressive mage, but not a dragon slayer. Therefore, Erza had no need to know about dragon slayers and sex. "And why would you want to know that?"

"All the dragon slayers with the exception of Wendy are acting positively lewd towards the girls they have an interest in," Erza explained, seemingly scandalized. Irene tried not to laugh at the disgusted expression on Erza's face.

"Oh? How so?" Irene wouldn't have guessed her daughter a prude considering that she owned custom bunny costume armor. That and the fact that she had seen Erza's copies of her sexier Sorcerer Weekly spreads.

"Natsu's crawling into Lucy's bed naked, Gajeel and Levy got caught having sex in the storage closet, and Laxus is looking at Mira's butt as if it's a piece of meat."

Irene raised an eyebrow, still trying to hold back laughter. "But why would dragon slayers be affected by the mating season of dragons?"

"You said it yourself – dragon slayers slowly become dragons. You're a living example of that!" Irene put down the book she was reading and tried to sit up as best she could despite the pain.

"Dragons did have a mating season, however it was cultural – not biological – so it wasn't passed on to dragon slayers," Irene told her daughter. "However, battle could get dragons and slayers alike worked up, so some of us worked off that energy in more… carnal ways. I would assume that's what you're seeing now that your friends are healed enough to give in to that energy. Or perhaps they realized they don't want to risk dying a virgin again."

Erza blushed.

"Oh, so you _are_ a virgin," Irene laughed. "No wonder you're so uncomfortable with your friends getting it on."

"N- no!" Erza protested, obviously lying.

"Have you even had your first kiss?"

"Of course," Erza insisted.

"It must be Jellal then. It's rather amazing how you two look at each other like hopeless teenagers in love and yet you haven't done anything but kiss." Irene sighed. "You inherited my genetics, so I'm surprised you haven't been able to seduce him. Perhaps you're not trying hard enough?"

"You've only seen us together once! And then we were eating!"

"You don't think I didn't see that thirsty look you gave him while he was shirtless?"

Erza's blush intensified across her cheeks. "I'll leave you to your reading," she replied, leaving Irene to laugh at her daughter's plight.

* * *

Later that afternoon Mira came to see Irene. "What happened? I saw Erza angrily hacking away at a training dummy behind the guild, so I know you did something." Irene saw that she was letting some of her satan soul magic leak around her, so Mira must have been angry. It was unusual for the girl to be anything but polite.

"She came to ask why you and your boyfriend were having so much sex this week," Irene replied.

"I'm surprised. Usually she'd avoid that topic altogether," Mira said. "Well, maybe because I'm involved."

"Possibly. Or because Jellal's around more," Irene suggested.

"It would be difficult to see all of your friends having sex while the one you love won't do anything to you," Mira contemplated.

"For being such a powerful mage, he did strike me as too formal," Irene said.

"He's very guilty about his past, and that held him back until recently," Mira explained. "But I think he's nervous about you being able to hear now, or perhaps he's too into hating himself that he can't imagine finding happiness."

"I could always stay the night with Wendy," Irene replied eagerly enough to make Mira wonder what her motivations were.

"Laxus suggested we should send them on a romantic vacation to force them into alone time," Mira said. "But maybe you should talk to him. You are Erza's mother, right?"

It was obvious to Irene what Mira had meant by saying that – she was Erza's mother, and she should damn well act like it. Not that Irene thought talking her daughter's boyfriend into sleeping with her was a motherly thing to do at all.

"I can set up a meeting with him if you want," Mira assured Irene. It was at that moment that Irene realized why Mira was considered dangerous by her guildmates – she wasn't actually giving Irene an option.

"Men aren't allowed in Fairy Hills," Irene waved off Mira's suggestion.

"Oh? Then why's Erza letting Jellal sleep here on the nights I'm over at Laxus's place?"

"Yes, but she's the one to make that choice, not me," Irene responded.

"At the guild hall then? Tomorrow morning would work. Why don't you come over for a little breakfast? Erza will be out tomorrow on another mission," Mira directed her. Again, despite being phrased as a question, Irene knew it wasn't one.

She hated being manipulated, being used to having the role of a manipulator herself, but she wouldn't fight something like this. She had no stake in this besides _maybe_ her daughter's happiness and it was obvious Mira was better versed in that subject than she was. So she agreed to what Mira had requested of her.

* * *

That was how Irene ended up where she was – sitting alone at a table on the second level of the guildhall. Mira had assured her that she would tell Jellal to see Irene as soon as he arrived. For now, Irene waited while she ate a meager breakfast. She was exhausted after her walk to the guild hall and was less enthused than ever about the idea of meeting Jellal. Irene hoped he wouldn't show up.

"Irene?" A masculine voice asked from behind her. She made a painful effort to turn around so she could make sure it was Jellal. He hadn't spoken much the only time she'd seen him. Jellal walked to the other seat at the table and sat down.

"Hello, Jellal," she said in her sweetest voice. She was well aware that she spoke sweetly on such a rare occasion that it was suspicious when she brought herself to do it. Although she was trying hard not to intimidate Jellal, her mood and physical condition did not translate to a friendly demeanor.

Jellal was very stiff in his chair. "Mira said you wanted to talk to me?"

"No need to be afraid, although I admit Mira's intentions are not entirely pure," Irene joked. She knew Jellal was scared of her, not Mira.

"I would assume this is about Erza," Jellal said. "Or do you have some other interest in me?"

"What else would Mira want me to meet with you about?" Irene proposed.

"Nothing," Jellal answered.

"Good, you are as smart as it's said you are," Irene practically purred.

Jellal gulped, now doubly worried about what he was going to hear. If Irene didn't intimidate him enough, Irene carrying out Mira's plans certainly did. Mostly because he knew it would force him to step up his relationship with Erza.

"Now, I didn't think it was appropriate to talk to you about this, but Mira did," Irene continued. "But we were both wondering why you were not sleeping with Erza."

"I am sleeping with her," Jellal protested her.

"I mean having sex, making love, doing the deed, rounding the bases," Irene clarified, although she was sure he didn't need it.

Jellal tried to speak, but only a small choking noise came out of his mouth.

Irene leaned forwards on her arms and stared directly into Jellal's eyes, forgetting the pain it made her feel and instead relishing in the feeling of toying with someone again. This time it wasn't even for a questionable cause that could kill thousands. "You don't think I didn't notice how you stare at my daughter?" She didn't notice, but she had heard Mira's stories about their many close encounters that ended in absolutely nothing.

"I-" Jellal tried to explain himself, but couldn't.

"Have also been annoyed by Laxus and Mira spending nights together," Irene said. She didn't know, but she could guess that was the case if he was desperate enough to share a bed with Erza when he was so intimidated by the idea of intimacy with her. "Could that be because you're annoyed that you're not bold enough to do the same with Erza?"

Jellal remained silent.

Irene knew her inadvertent strategy was working. Intimidation was a very underhanded tactic, but it was working with Jellal so far. She wouldn't need to take the nauseating step of bragging about how sexy her daughter was.

Finally, Jellal spoke up. "So why am I here?"

"Mira thinks you and Erza are far overdue for sleeping together. I would like my daughter to get out of her funk," Irene told him. "And, it would be much more pleasant adjusting to life here if your friends weren't asking me to solve your relationship problems."

"Thank you," Jellal said formally, pulling his chair out away from the table. Irene grabbed his hand and gave him the most intimidating look she could before she let go.

"Think about it," Irene said. "I'll be at Wendy's tonight."

She heard Jellal swallow nervously, but didn't watch as he walked away.

A few minutes later, Mira came to bring Irene another pitcher of water and some extra fresh fruit. "I can't tell if he's so scared he won't do anything or if he'll be forced to act," she told Irene in an unnaturally happy voice. "I suppose we'll know tomorrow."

"Or he was just as perturbed by that conversation as I was," Irene said, glaring at Mira. The girl didn't react. "It's weird for a mother to beg a man to sleep with her daughter."

"That wasn't begging, that was forcing," Mira corrected Irene. "But for our sake I hope it works."

Irene wondered what Mira meant by "our sake." Mira had no stake in this, unless the sexual tension between Jellal and Erza was really bad enough to put the whole guild into the couple's funk.

"If it doesn't, I'll have to instruct Wendy on aphrodisiacs," Irene joked.

"May it not come to that," Mira said. From the expression on her face, she obviously had no problem with it coming to that. "We couldn't corrupt such a young, innocent soul."

"No, we can't," Irene replied. A devious smile formed on her face to mirror Mira's.

* * *

 **A/N:** Tfw you have nothing better to do so you just spend a whole day writing your new fanfiction.


	4. The Last Straw

**A/N:** Moving along then. Now back to our thoroughly intimidated/confused bachelor.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **The Last Straw**

Jellal walked away from his meeting with Irene with a frown on his face. He had no idea why she was so intimidating to him. He was rarely intimidated by anyone or anything, and all of those things were insanely powerful and had proved it to him directly. Maybe it was because she was Erza's mother. Not just Erza's mother, but Erza's mother who had finally started to care about her daughter's wellbeing.

He wondered if he had cared that she would be staying at Wendy's that night. He hadn't told anyone, but he was planning to ask Erza on a vacation to a remote cabin for a week so that they could take that next step of their relationship in peace. If he was being honest, he was to antsy to wait that long. After the fourth night in a row hearing Laxus and Mira being loud all night and fleeing to Erza's for the night he decided he needed to get over his fears and just sleep with Erza.

He walked into what was now officially Laxus's office to talk to his friend. Jellal collapsed into the recliner in the corner and looked at Laxus, who was now looking up from some papers he was trying to read.

"I thought I might see you this morning," Laxus said. "Need a beer?"

"No," Jellal sighed.

"Mira said Irene was going to grill you today," Laxus told him. "I think Mira's too crazy about forcing you and Erza to have sex already, but tell that to her. Especially now that she's forced Irene over to her cause."

Jellal sighed. "I was actually planning on taking her on a romantic vacation for that exact purpose when she had time, but I don't think Mira or Irene would stand to wait for that."

"Where were you gonna take her?" Laxus asked. "I need ideas. It's been too stressful and I need a break."

"I had a cabin in the woods as a hideout for a while. It's completely cut off from civilization, so it's a great place to relax. Right on a lake as well," Jellal said.

"Does it have a bed though?" Laxus asked.

"Yeah. And a few bunk beds. Crime Sorciere used it quite a bit before the war," Jellal replied. "I need to renovate it into more of a romantic getaway and remove the bunkbeds before I take Erza there."

"Well, Mira and I could do that for you if you give us a weekend there. God knows I need a break from all the members of Fairy Tail but her right now."

"I don't think Irene or Mira will wait that long for anything to happen. If I don't do anything soon they'll do something drastic," Jellal sighed.

"What? Like send you to a resort or something?"

"No, something worse, whatever that would be," Jellal insisted.

Laxus gave Jellal a sympathetic look. "It's not like you don't want to. Why don't you just get it over with?"

"Irene. All my other hesitations were gone until I found out she was staying with Erza," Jellal explained.

"No, I totally get it," Laxus said.

"But Irene's staying with Wendy tonight, so suddenly I have no excuses," Jellal told Laxus. "And somehow that's making me more nervous."

"Then just do it. Look, I was worried about disappointing Mira too. I know she's had guys that were a lot better than me. I still don't know why she likes it so much," Laxus said.

Jellal could tell Laxus was uncomfortable admitting that, but was grateful that Laxus was willing to share his insecurities.

"I'd say you're in a much better position as well," Laxus said. "Mira told me that Erza's been saving herself for you. Well, when she was a teenager and hated you she wasn't doing it consciously, she was just too turned off the idea of any relationship, but after she found out you were alive and redeemable after the Nirvana incident she started consciously saving herself."

Jellal didn't know why he was surprised by that. None of the tabloids about Erza had every mentioned a relationship other than the possibility of one with Grey, who Jellal knew was practically a brother to Erza. Despite Erza's hatred for him, Jellal also wondered about Ichiya because he was so convinced he had a claim on her.

"Maybe I'll just go for it," Jellal mumbled.

"Yeah. And you don't have to worry about condoms – Erza's on birth control," Laxus informed him.

"Why do you know that?" Jellal asked.

Laxus shrugged. "Mira told me that she, Erza, and Cana all take the same monthly potion and have been since they were teenagers. It stops their periods entirely so they don't have to worry about it on missions."

"That sounds like Erza," Jellal replied.

"What about it?"

"Planning for absolutely everything," Jellal deadpanned.

Laxus laughed. "I'll be scared when she decides to stop taking it. Imagine a pregnant Erza."

Jellal didn't want to. Well, he did want kids with Erza, but a pregnant Erza sounded dangerous. "It would be even worse if she and Mira were pregnant at the same time."

"Don't even bring up that possibility," Laxus threatened jokingly. "If the guild hall was left standing I'd consider us lucky."

"If _we're_ left standing we'll be lucky," Jellal corrected his friend.

"Anyways, you should go talk to Irene about it," Laxus recommended. "I'm willing to bet she wouldn't be so insistent if Mira wasn't influencing her."

Jellal scoffed. "There's no way Mira could force Irene to do anything."

"Well, she might be able to if Irene was bored enough, and I'd say she's probably bored enough," Laxus pointed out.

"I suppose," Jellal conceded.

"Maybe she'll lay off you if you tell her your plans and give her a part in them," Laxus advised Jellal.

"But do I really want to?"

"Yes, Jellal. You do. Now go see her, I have work to do," Laxus said.

Jellal trudged back to see Irene. She was still sitting at the table, now reading a newspaper. He tried to steel himself for conversing with her. If Laxus was correct about her boredom being the driving force behind her interest in his relationship with Erza, she should be more receptive to him once he told her his plans.

"Yes, Jellal?" Irene asked. She didn't move her eyes from the paper.

"I was wondering if you'd help me," Jellal said.

"I already said I would – I'm going to stay at Wendy's tonight," Irene purred.

"You don't need to do that," Jellal said. "I was actually planning on taking Erza on a little vacation."

Irene raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I have an isolated cabin I figured she'd like to spend some time in," Jellal said.

"Wouldn't a girl prefer a cushy resort?" Irene questioned him. She looked over the paper's edge at Jellal, but didn't put it down.

"Of course she would," Jellal replied. "But does that really matter when she's going to be spending her time inside?" He was surprised how suave he came off as with that statement – and that he even implied such a thing to Irene.

"I suppose not," Irene said. "But I trust you are planning to take her somewhere nice later?"

"Once I have the money to take her to the best resort in the country," Jellal replied.

Irene finally put down her paper. "It's good you recognize her needs. Is there a hot spring near this cabin?" Irene asked, curious if Jellal knew that Erza could hardly survive without warm baths. She could if necessary, but Irene knew a relaxing weekend for Erza would not be survivable if she didn't have a bath. That much was evident the first week after the war ended and the bath at Fairy Hills was closed due to a disruption in the plumbing system. Irene watched Erza fume waiting for a bath. On the first day after it reopened, Erza went missing. Irene found her later that night refusing to be dragged out of the bath by Wendy, who was concerned for her health after a long soak.

Jellal nodded. "In a cave, no less."

"Really?" Irene asked.

"Would I lie?"

"If you thought it would make me more likely to approve of your plans," Irene told him.

"Should I ask Erza to send you a picture?" Jellal asked sarcastically. When he saw the expression on Irene's face, he wondered if he had overstepped his place.

"No, I'll be fine," Irene replied.

"I do have a request for you," Jellal said. He saw Irene's eyes widen in surprise, but they quickly turned curious.

"And what would you have me do?" Irene asked.

"I'll be gone for a few days this week at the cabin getting it ready. I want you to make sure she's not looking for me," Jellal replied. "And if you would make sure she's not out on a job Friday, so we can leave then?"

"How do you propose distracting her so she's not looking for you?"

"Erza is independent," Jellal assured her. "She made it years without me."

"But those years are not now," Irene reminded him.

"She can keep herself busy," Jellal once again tried to convince her. "If she can't, see if you can get the runes expanded to all of Magnolia and ask her for a day of shopping, followed by a day of cake tasting."

"If you're only gone for two days," Irene pointed out. "Should I just recommend that she go out on another mission?"

"I'm sure I can figure something out in two days," Jellal replied. He knew any mission Erza took was liable to run long due to her teammates' behavior.

"Good," Irene said. "You have a deal."

* * *

Jellal had told Crime Sorciere (well, everyone but Sorano, who had left to go to Sabertooth) that he would be out the next week. Now that they were essentially free to do what they wanted they didn't care. Or rather, they didn't care until Erik revealed why he'd be gone, and then they cared only to tease Jellal about his romantic getaway.

Erik asked him later, privately, if he would lend the cabin to Erik for a while so he could spend time away from all of their voices. Jellal knew what Erik's true motivation for wanting the cabin was – Kinana – and that he couldn't hide that knowledge from Erik, so he agreed to allow Erik use of it as long as they cleaned up. He hoped that no one else would request its use, but he knew Laxus had already asked. Jellal could only hope that the rest of Fairy Tail wouldn't find out.

After spending a long afternoon gathering up and packing the supplies he needed, Jellal decided that he would go see Erza. Even if he wasn't planning for anything to happen, it would be nice to have time alone with Erza after the chaos of the war. With Irene living with Erza, there hadn't been a way for them to have one of the private moments of peace they so enjoyed with each other.

Jellal climbed up the tree that was right outside Erza's bedroom shortly after sunset. He was surprised to see that the window was open already, but figured that since it was a warm night Erza had wanted to keep the window open for fresh air. He hopped through it and landed next to her bed only to see Erza, wearing only a towel, laying on her bed reading a romance novel. She looked up at him with a slightly surprised expression. The flush on her face could have been caused by a number of things, so he wasn't sure she was embarrassed.

"Jellal," Erza exclaimed. "I- I wasn't expecting you this early!"

"But you were expecting me?" Jellal asked. He didn't take off his shoes or coat in fear of her sending him away.

"Well, not exactly," Erza said. "But Mira was acting suspicious today. She made a point of telling me that Irene would be at Wendy's tonight before reminding me that you were now free."

Jellal had to admit, for all her attempts to subtly get various couples together, Mira couldn't possibly be so subtle that Erza (her best friend) wouldn't be able to tell when she had something up her sleeve.

"I figured she had forced you to come over here to see me," Erza continued. "I was ready to wait for you, however long it took for you to be ready for a relationship, but Mira isn't – she wants to make it happen."

Jellal wondered how to respond. "I think that's because she knows I am ready," Jellal admitted quietly. "But that I wasn't planning to make a move on you."

"Wasn't?" Erza asked, her expression mirroring her Mom's questioning look.

If Jellal was as suave as some of the other men he knew, he would have kissed her then and there. Instead, he felt in necessary to reply. "Well, I was making plans, but I kept it from her."

Erza was the one to reach up, grab the edges of his coat, and drag him down for a kiss. At first Jellal stood frozen from the shock, and then began to lean into it. Erza pulled away from him, a now obvious blush covering her face. Both of them turned their heads, trying not to show their embarrassed excitement at the kiss.

"That was…" Erza said first, trying to come up with words. When she couldn't, she dragged Jellal back down for another kiss. Jellal was the one to pull away from her, causing Erza to stare at him until she saw that he was taking off his shoes and coat. As soon as he was done, she pulled him back to the bed and embarrassment turned into a predatory expression on her face.

* * *

An hour later, Jellal found himself naked under Erza's covers. The woman herself had curled up behind him, playing the part of the big spoon. He had been trying to wiggle himself away from her so that he could convince Erza to leave the bed. Under their hips he could feel that the sheets were very wet and therefore uncomfortable to sleep on, so he greatly desired a change of bedding. Erza wasn't having it, and he doubted any explanation of his reasoning on his part would help.

"Erza?" Jellal asked, going for his absolute last resort. "Would you like to go for another round in the shower?" It was his last resort because it was a request he was too embarrassed to make otherwise.

Erza shifted against his back and nuzzled his neck possessively. "I don't want to move. Maybe in the morning?"

Jellal sighed, but was able to hold back a groan.

"Just go to sleep Jellal," Erza told him in a rather non-reassuring voice. "We can change the sheets in the morning."

Jellal waited until she was asleep, hoping that she would have a laxer grip in her sleep. That didn't happen. Instead, in his first attempt at movement, her arms tightened even more. At that point he figured he had no choice but to sleep, so he did.

* * *

 **A/N:** I may write the lemon portion of that later, but if I do it would be added to one of the oneshot collections.


	5. The New Dawn

**A/N:** It looks like I'll actually finish this within the parameters I made for myself (~5 chapters)! Go me for restraining myself.

The inspiration for this story was actually a writing prompt about a character having a miscarriage. I wondered how Irene would handle it if Erza happened to have one. I couldn't bring myself to write something so depressing, and still have no idea how Irene would handle that, so I'm not going to put that in this story and I'm probably never going to write it. But something did come of it and that was this.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **The New Dawn**

Irene was unable to sleep the night before. She had pretended to, but several factors had made sleep hard to achieve. Wendy's pet exceed, Carla, was very suspicious of her reasoning for staying in the girl's room, and had spent the night in a silent watch as a result.

Wendy herself was not feeling well, and for some reason that made Irene concerned. She didn't know why she was beginning to care for Wendy, but she was. Maybe it was that she saw Wendy as a (potential) star pupil or that Erza thought of Wendy as a younger sister, but Irene cared that Wendy appeared to be uncomfortable. Carla and Wendy both refused to tell her what was going on, which Irene admitted was fair.

So far, she'd seen no signs of Wendy going through the destructive power fluctuations she saw from pubescent dragon slayers in her time. Irene didn't know if that meant that Wendy wasn't on her first period (her running hypothesis of the night), or that her dragon mentor's attempt to stop her from turning into a dragon had done away with more side effects of dragon slayer magic than Irene thought. Based on what she'd heard about the other dragon slayers, she wouldn't have to worry about normal human teenage hormones affecting her pupil's studies (well, once her pupil agreed to study, which Irene was convinced she would) – the living dragon slayers had no sexual impulses until they'd reached full sexual maturity, just like dragons.

She wouldn't address whatever Wendy's problem was until later – she had other priorities this morning. As soon as the sun was rising, she left Wendy's room to return to Erza's. Irene suspected Jellal had come over the night before, and she was curious to catch him before he left.

On the way, she bumped into someone who was frantically running out of the building. She looked to see who it was, only to find one of Erza's teammates. Although Irene didn't know Erza's team well, she knew that he was the one with a stripping habit. If she hadn't picked that up after one hour in the guild hall, she was truly unobservant.

"Shit! E-erza! I-" Irene turned around so that he could see her face. He was obviously surprised (and relieved) to see that it wasn't Erza. Irene didn't know how to feel that he found Erza scarier than her.

"You're not the only one breaking the rules," Irene told him, a sly expression on her face. "And who am I to care about the rules?"

The younger mage stared at her.

"But you should be going before Erza goes for her morning run," Irene reminded him. She saw him stiffen, once again aware of the problem he was potentially facing by being in Fairy Hills, before he walked down the hallway towards the stairs. Irene had to chuckle at his obvious fear of being caught. She hadn't realized her daughter was so feared by her friends.

Irene didn't know what to expect when she opened the door to her daughter's rooms. Although she was sure Jellal had visited, she didn't know if anything had happened or if there would be any evidence that it had. Nothing in the rooms outside of the bedroom was out of place. She debated whether or not she should open the door to her daughter's bedroom, but when she heard shuffling around inside, she decided she should. Getting to the closet for fresh clothes was always a worthy excuse.

The first thing Irene saw when she opened the door was Jellal, frantically pulling the sheets off the bed as if it was his only goal in life. Opening the door further, she found no sign of Erza.

"Good morning, Jellal," Irene said, noting that he hadn't yet noticed her presence. His head whipped around towards her and he dropped the fitted sheet he was about to put into the laundry pile.

"I didn't realize you'd be here so early," Jellal told her.

"I didn't realize you'd _still_ be here this late," Irene replied. "Even that ice mage had the sense to leave early."

"Gray?" Jellal asked, obviously surprised.

"Where's Erza?"

"In the closet," Jellal replied. "Changing for her morning run." Irene didn't realize her daughter ever changed clothes in a normal fashion. If she had Erza's abilities she wouldn't bother even having a closet.

"I guess I'll have to wait then," Irene replied. She sat on the now stripped mattress and crossed her legs. If yesterday had taught her anything, it was that she rather enjoyed being the scary mother in law. Irene watched intently as Jellal gathered the dirty sheets up from the floor when she noticed a good sized red stain on one. "What's that?"

Jellal looked down at the sheets in arms and a light blush crossed his face, but he didn't say anything.

"The red stain?" Irene paused for effect. "Oh, so you did have sex last night." Jellal's blush grew brighter.

It was at that moment that Erza burst out of her closet and noticed the scene in front of her. "Irene!"

"I didn't realize you'd be such a bleeder," Irene teased her daughter. "I would have thought your hymen broke during training."

"It did!" Erza replied automatically. Then she looked at the sheets in Jellal's arms and noticed the same red spot her mother had. Suddenly she began to blush and looked at the ground embarrassed in a way that Irene found rather adorable. "I just bled. Isn't that normal?"

Irene shrugged. "I wouldn't know." Erza's head snapped up, and she began to stare at her mother. Irene determined that this look was definitely not cute. Out of the corner of her eye, Irene saw that Jellal was slowly moving towards the door, trying to leave. "Anyways, I'll be at the guild today. Would you mind meeting me for some breakfast, Erza?" Irene nodded at Jellal. "Good luck."

* * *

Irene spent most of her morning negotiating with Laxus, Freed, and Levy to get her range expanded to include all of Magnolia. It had taken time, but she had convinced them to temporarily expand it. She didn't reveal her motivation, but it appeared that Laxus knew what was happening and advocated for her.

Mira had attempted to get information out of Irene about the night before, but Irene had managed to give her no information about what had happened. She figured Erza would tell her friend eventually. Either that or Mira would be able to instinctively tell. Irene was lucky that Mira's job meant she couldn't make her way up to Irene's table too often to interrogate her.

Around the middle of the day, Erza walked into the guild happier than Irene had ever seen her. The members of Fairy Tail that were present looked absolutely perturbed her brilliant smile. Irene was happy that she wasn't the only one unsettled by her daughter's beautiful smile. No wonder the demon of the guild was the only one who wanted this to happen so soon. Erza was making her way over to the bar to request her morning cake.

Irene saw Erza's smile fade as members of the Rune Knights opened the doors behind her to let a man in that Irene didn't recognize. He was certainly an imposing man, and Irene suspected he held a place of power considering the rich robes he was dressed in.

"Is Jellal Fernandez here?" The man asked. Erza turned around and began walking towards him with a stern but guarded expression on her face.

"Jellal Fernandez has been pardoned. I'm sure you know that," Erza told him angrily.

"We do. Is he here or not?" The man asked her.

"He is not," Erza informed him.

"Well, we don't have time to wait for him. Is your guild master here?"

As if on cue, Laxus appeared on the upper balcony and leaned on the rail. "What do you want with him?"

"If you'll allow us to discuss it with you in your office," the man replied, sure he would get his way.

"You can tell whatever you'd tell me to everyone here," Laxus replied cockily.

"No," the man refuted him. "In your office. It's confidential council business."

"Erza, Mira, Irene, in my office," Laxus called out his fellow S-class mages. Unfortunately, Gildarts had already left. "You, come with me."

The individuals in question all went up to Laxus's office. Laxus, the last one in, slammed the door behind him.

"What's this about?" Laxus questioned the man from the council.

"As I'm sure you know, it's been hard finding new members for the magic council that are powerful enough, not guild masters, trustworthy enough, and not dead," the man responded. "Although we understand that Jellal has not been trustworthy in the past, he has shown signs of reform, and beggars cannot be choosers."

"So you're asking him to join the council," Laxus stated.

"Yes, we are," the man confirmed.

"And what makes you think he will?" Laxus asked him.

"I don't think he will. Certainly, with his work defeating dark guilds, we would like him to remain off the council, but like I said: there's not much of a choice."

"What will you give him to do it?"

"He will be one of the most senior members, so despite our current lack of income due to the war's aftermath, we'll be paying him 30 million joules each year," the man replied.

Irene couldn't help but smile as she watched her daughter's eyes widen in surprise. That amount of money was more than enough to be buy her the house she had been eyeing, and lord knows Irene would be happy to have them away from her soon enough. Now that they had had sex, she suspected they would go into a honeymoon phase that she had no interest in witnessing.

"He'll take it," Erza replied.

The council member opened his mouth to reply, but Laxus was faster. "Come back in a week. He'll be here then to negotiate his terms with you."

The council member huffed and left the room, leaving Irene with the S-class mages of Fairy Tail.

"I'm surprised you're letting Jellal leave," Irene told Erza.

"You don't know?" Mira asked her. "I thought what he did was pretty well known."

"I know enough," Irene said.

"But not that his first time at the council was spent almost entirely as a thought projection?"

Irene raised an eyebrow. She hadn't realized Jellal was prodigious enough to create (and maintain) a powerful thought projection across such a distance for an extended period of time.

Erza nodded. "So he'll have to make a thought projection again for meetings. He could do that in his sleep."

"Erza," Laxus replied, trying to advocate for his friend. "You do realize he's out of practice? He hasn't used thought projections in years."

"Well, then. He'll have to get back into practice, won't he?" Irene said, supporting her daughter. Mira nodded, as did Erza.

"You're spoiled," Laxus scoffed at them. "Aren't you used to Jellal being away? He never even saw the guild hall until recently."

Mira turned to him. "You wouldn't understand. You were gone a lot yourself, Laxus." Laxus swallowed nervously as Mira stalked over to his desk. "I know you probably need some new clothes, Irene. Why don't you take her shopping, Erza?"

Irene, understanding Mira's motivations, escorted her daughter out of Laxus's office.

* * *

Three days later, Irene woke up to Erza yelping. She instinctively ran to Erza's room to see if she was okay, only to find one Jellal throwing Erza over his shoulder. Erza was halfheartedly trying to resist, insisting that she needed to pack if she was going away for a night or more, but Jellal seemed unfazed.

"You know you have to be back in four days, right?"

"For what?" Jellal asked her.

"Just be back in four days," Irene replied. She turned on her heel and walked back out of Erza's bedroom to begin her day.

* * *

 **A/N:** Assuming the yen to dollars conversion also applies to Fairy Tail's currency (as is common in anime/manga), The salary would be about $300,000/year.

This was kinda short, but I didn't have many ideas for it and it had been a while since I released a chapter.


	6. The New Family

**A/N:** Because this is the last chapter, and there's a few things I wanted to fit in here, the POV will switch between Irene and Jellal.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **The New Family**

It has been six months since Erza and Jellal had begun their relationship, and five after he began (or rather resumed) his job as a member of the magic council. Today, they had finally bought a house in Magnolia. It was hard to find one that matched Erza's specifications – a large enough basement to hold her entire (ever growing) collection of armor, a lavish master bathroom, a location near the guild hall, backing up to the forest, and a good yard for training in. As soon as one of the houses she was eyeing went on the market, Erza bought it.

Unfortunately, Erza also insisted on renovations, leading Erza to remain in Fairy Hills with Irene longer than intended. Irene was offered (and has accepted) the role as the new matron of Fairy Hills so that she would be entirely independent of Erza. For some time she had considered living with her daughter, but after too many nights of Jellal sneaking in she determined it wasn't an option she would ever accept.

Although Jellal attended all of his previous meetings as a thought projection, he figured he would have to be at the biggest week of council meetings in person, so he had gone to Era for a week. Erza was not pleased, but accepted his travel as part of his job. She travelled enough for her own work that she knew she shouldn't care, even if she did.

* * *

 _Irene_

Boxing up Erza's things was the bane of Irene's existence. Erza had been going on mission after mission (often with Jellal) so that she could afford to customize her new house, and that left Irene to do the work. This week, with Jellal out at Era, Irene was surprised to find her daughter had not gone on a solo mission with her team. She was more surprised to find Erza lying in her bed well past noon with no evidence that she had gone for her morning run.

Irene wondered if she should ask Wendy to check Erza out, but figured it was possible that Erza was just that tired from the wild night she'd spent with Jellal. The night was so wild, in fact, that Irene hardly cared about her daughter getting angry about missing her run. She had been kept up so late that Irene wanted a little revenge.

As she was putting her shoes on to prepare to visit the guild hall, Erza raced past Irene to the bathroom. Irene watched as her daughter kneeled by the toilet and began to vomit whatever was left of last night's dessert.

"Erza?" Irene asked. "Are you pregnant?"

Erza coughed into the toilet.

"Although I didn't get morning sickness with you, it is pretty common," Irene goaded her.

Erza made a noise from the bathroom.

"Should I get Wendy to check you out?"

"No!" Erza finally replied. "I'm on a birth control potion! I can't be pregnant!"

"Are you sure? Didn't you tell me you ran out last month?"

"Shit!" Erza exclaimed. "I forgot."

"That you did," Irene said. "Would you like me to come with you to Porlyusicas's?" After Irene had been given permission to visit the healer, they had become fast friends. Besides, she couldn't burden Wendy with an adult issue. She liked Wendy cute and innocent as she was.

"N-" Erza started to reply, but she paused. "Would you?"

Irene contemplated this for a second, deciding how much she actually cared that she might be getting a grandchild. After remembering that Jellal was gone, like her husband was when she found out she was pregnant, she decided it would be best to go with. Her daughter would not go through the process alone or neglected like she did.

"Yes. But get ready quickly. I'm rather impatient today," Irene said. She wouldn't admit it, but she was excited to see a happy pregnancy in her family. If Jellal even did the slightest thing similar to her husband, or stayed out at Era any longer than a week, she would kill him. Since she wasn't a dragon any longer, and her magic was sealed, she knew it would also be much more slow and painful than her husband's death.

Erza requipped into her normal clothing and followed her mother out of Fairy Hills. They walked over to Porlyusica's tree quietly.

Without knocking, Irene opened the door to find Porlyusica and Wendy inside. "Wendy. Would you mind leaving for a bit?" Irene asked the girl.

"Wendy can stay here," Porlyusica instructed her friend.

"No," Irene insisted. "This is a personal issue I'd like to talk to you about."

"Then why's Erza here?"

"I didn't say this was my personal issue," Irene replied.

"Fine. Wendy, go and get some fresh herbs from the garden," Porlyusica directed her student. Wendy shyly went out the door. Before it was closed, Porlyusica spoke up again. "What's the issue?"

"Erza's pregnant," Irene replied. She watched her daughter's face light up with a blush.

"You've done the test?" Porlyusica asked skeptically.

"No, but she is," Irene stated again.

"Well, I need to do my own test," Porlyusica replied. She grabbed a cup, placed herbs into it, and handed it to Erza. "Pee in that."

Erza nodded and shuffled away to the bathroom.

"Why do you think she's pregnant?" Porlyusica asked her friend. "She's hardly the dumbest girl at Fairy Tail, and she's dating one of the few men in the guild that isn't an idiot. I doubt she would get pregnant first."

"It appears you overestimate my daughter," Irene suggested. "She forgot to refill her birth control potion last month."

Porlyusica nodded. "I was too hopeful that someone in that guild wasn't going to get knocked up after that war."

"Indeed," Irene replied.

Erza left the bathroom, the cup in her hand. She tried to hand it to Porlyusica, but she just told Erza to throw it away. "You're pregnant," Porlyusica confirmed.

"W- what?" Erza exclaimed, scrambling not to drop the cup in surprise.

"The liquid in that cup turned purple, didn't it? That means you're pregnant."

Erza went back to the bathroom and slammed the door. Irene assumed she needed time to process what she'd heard. Her daughter didn't seem the type to take the news well. She and Porlyusica waited until Erza returned to the room.

"The potion takes two weeks to stop being effective. When did you run out?"

"About a month and a half ago," Erza said.

"So you're probably about four weeks along," Porlyusica said. She grabbed a jar of potion off the shelf. "Take these vitamins to help you and the baby. I don't know much about pregnancy, so you should probably see a real midwife for this."

Erza nodded.

"And don't go do anything stupid or dangerous. You already have a good chance at miscarrying since this is your first pregnancy, so you should be careful," Porlyusica advised her.

"Miscarrying?" Erza asked.

"But if you make it two more months, you'll more than likely be okay. I doubt you'll have many problems anyways – a strong mom and strong dad means a strong baby," Porlyusica said. "But I wouldn't tell the guild just yet."

Erza nodded again and looked at her own mother.

"You'll be fine," Irene tried to assure her daughter. It came out awkwardly – she wasn't used to saying kind things to Erza.

"Now, if you didn't notice, Wendy and I are busy," Porlyusica said. "Go tell the baby daddy."

Erza and Irene left Porlyusica's house before they spoke again.

"Should I call Jellal and tell him now, or wait?" Erza asked her mother, knowing there was no one else she could go to if she wanted to. Well, she could go to Mira, but if she did the whole guild would know before it was safe.

Irene thought about it. Her lack of communication played a role in her husband's doubt about her pregnancy, but his temperament was a much larger issue. "I'm sure you can wait. Jellal can wait as well. We have work to do anyways."

"Yes," Erza replied, knowing she would have to get supplies for a baby.

"Don't forget to remind the people working on your house that you'll need a bedroom turned into a nursery," Irene told Erza. Erza smiled at her mother, ready for a shopping trip. Although Erza liked shopping, she couldn't match Irene's excitement. Finally, Irene had a pregnancy to look forward to.

* * *

 _Jellal_

Jellal entered the guildhall, back from Era at last. Due to bad weather, he had been delayed two days in returning via train and had rushed to the first place he thought Erza might be. When a hand reached over and grabbed his coat, he assumed it was Erza, eager for a kiss. He turned his head towards the hand and found Erik, not Erza.

"Erik?" Jellal asked, surprised.

"Stay away from Irene," Erik warned. "She's pissed at you for being late."

Jellal nodded and looked around to see where Irene was. Thankfully, he didn't see her. He moved to see if he could find Erza.

"Jellal?" A voice came from behind him, sending a shiver down his spine. "You do realize you're late, right?"

He turned around to face Irene. "There was bad weather, delaying the trains."

"I do understand that," Irene replied. "So I'm giving you a reprieve. But use meteor next time, won't you?"

Jellal swallowed. He didn't know what it was a reprieve from, but he was grateful nonetheless. "O- of course."

"Erza's at Fairy Hills," Irene told him. "Go see her."

He didn't have time to reply – he used meteor to rush to Erza's window and let himself inside. His girlfriend was laying on her bed in only a robe, looking through a home decorating magazine.

"J- Jellal?" Erza turned up to see him, and looked as embarrassed as she had been the first time he snuck into her room.

"Irene insisted I come see you right away, not that I wouldn't," Jellal told her. He dropped his bag and took off his coat so that he could snuggle up next to her on the bed. Erza didn't move herself towards him like she usually did. "Is something wrong?"

Erza blushed and shook her head, convincing Jellal that something was indeed very wrong.

"I- I-," Erza said. There was something Jellal knew she couldn't spit out. "I'm… Well…" It was unusual to see her this flustered. He tried not to ask it, and instead waited silently for her to gather up her courage. "I'm…" She paused once more, before she gathered up her courage. "I'm pregnant."

Jellal's eyes widened. "Pregnant?" He dropped one hand over his eyes.

"I- I'm sorry," Erza said. She started speaking quickly as she did when she was nervous "It's my fault. I forgot to get more birth control potion last month."

"N- no. It's okay," Jellal said. "I'm really surprised, but I'm happy. I wasn't expecting it this soon – I didn't even know if you wanted kids."

"Did you?" Erza asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "But I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want to make you feel like you had to get pregnant for my sake."

"I want them as well," Erza admitted. "I just – I just didn't know if you wanted them, and I didn't want to have them if you didn't."

"You don't have to worry, Erza," Jellal assured her. "I'm really happy right now." He rolled closer to her so that he could nuzzle her nose with her own and then laid a kiss on her lips. Erza's arms wrapped around him.

"I already started looking through catalogs," Erza replied. "For stuff for the baby."

"And I'm sure you've told the renovation crew as well," Jellal sighed. Erza snuggled up to his chest. "We'll figure this out later. Let's relax and celebrate." He felt Erza's head nod and pulled her in for a kiss.

* * *

 _Irene_

Irene sat outside the guild hall's infirmary. She was still bitter that Erza wouldn't let her in the room to watch her grandchild be born. It didn't help that the rest of the guild members were pacing around her and leaning against the wall, waiting for any crying. For now it was just Erza yelling. Irene wished she could see the horrified expression on Jellal's face.

Suddenly the door opened and a rather horrified-looking Wendy stuck her face out of the room. "Irene? Erza wants you to come in."

Irene was surprised, but slipped in through the crack in the door before any of the mages trying to push their way through could follow. Inside she found Erza with a determined expression on her face pushing desperately. Jellal sat beside her, squeezing her hand and looking pale with worry.

"Is everything alright?" Irene asked, trying not to show her uncharacteristic worry.

"Well, the baby should be here soon," Porlyusica said. She was watching cautiously over the shoulder of a midwife Erza had hired from Magnolia's hospital.

"Mom," Erza grunted, in obvious pain. Irene was shocked – it was the first time Erza had ever called her 'Mom.' "Hold my hand. Jellal looks like he's going to faint. I can't trust him to stay conscious."

Irene walked over to Erza's free hand and took a hold of it. Jellal was getting more anxious by the minute – so anxious he didn't hear Erza's assessment of his condition. Wendy had handed him a cup of water and desperately tried to get him to calm down.

Soon, the midwife got between Erza's legs, ready to catch the baby. Jellal and Irene watched anxiously as Erza gave one final push and the baby came out, crying. The midwife looked the baby over for a minute, ensuring it was healthy, before giving it to Porlyusica to dry off and hand to Erza. Jellal had indeed fainted, and Wendy was trying to ease him to the floor.

Erza placed her new daughter to her breast. Irene could see a small amount of scarlet hair poking up from her scalp, as she would expect from any female in her family. She watched in wonder as her daughter stared lovingly at her new granddaughter. It appeared Erza didn't even notice that Jellal was entirely out of the picture (for now).

"What are you going to name her?" Irene asked her daughter.

"Scarlet," Erza replied.

"Scarlet? Won't that be her last name as well?" Porlyusica pointed out, obviously not impressed.

"No," Erza said firmly. "Her last name will be Fernandez. Even if he's indisposed at the moment, I want her to have his last name." Irene was surprised her daughter wasn't selfish enough to keep her last name as her daughter's, but she supposed her granddaughter would have it as a first name anyways.

* * *

 _Jellal_

Jellal was truly overwhelmed by the sight (and smell) of the birth. He was surprised he ended up fainting, but he knew Wendy would be there to help. When he came to fully, Wendy helped him back up onto a stool so he could sit next to Erza. It was rather surprising to find Irene sitting next to Erza, holding their child before even Jellal got to.

"How long has it been?" Jellal asked.

"Only about ten minutes," Porlyusica replied sarcastically.

"Is he… she… okay?"

"She," Porlyusica replied. "Both mother and baby are healthy."

Jellal tried to stand up to get a closer look at his daughter, but Wendy put a hand on his shoulder to keep him sitting. To his surprise, Irene stood up and brought his daughter over to him to hold.

"Her name is Scarlet," Irene told him. "Scarlet Fernandez." It was at that moment that Jellal knew it would be an effort to hold back his happy tears. This was truly the best moment of his life. As he held his daughter for the first time, he knew nothing could be better.

* * *

 _Irene_

Irene watched as Jellal held little Scarlet. He stared at her, obviously trying not to cry. Erza was still being attended to by the midwife, and appeared to be trying to use her recovery magic to hasten whatever thing the midwife was trying to do.

Seeing the happy little scene, Irene wondered if she should leave. Although she was very happy (happier than she'd ever admit), she didn't feel it was right to intrude on her daughter's moment. After all, she had been a terrible mother herself. Besides, as much as she liked terrorizing Jellal, he was a very good partner for Erza. He could handle whatever happened to Erza much better than Irene could.

Irene made her way to the door, ready to go back with the rest of the guild.

"No. Stay," Erza's voice commanded her. "You're my mom, right? You should be here."

Irene turned towards her daughter, who was now watching Jellal blubber over their baby. Erza had tears in her eyes, happy to see their little family together. She walked back and pulled a stool next to Jellal and Scarlet. "At the very least, I'm Scarlet's grandmother." Irene paused. "But if you would like me to be your mother again, or if Jellal wants me to be his mother-in-law, so be it."

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you enjoyed! Only the epilogue left.


	7. Epilogue

**A/N:** This is the epilogue! I usually don't like OCs, but I decided to put some in here anyways.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

Scarlet had her mother's fierce attitude, determination, and magical talent. At ten, she spent all of her free time trying to learn both requip magic and heavenly body magic. Although talented, she had a long way to go to match the ability of her parents. Luckily, magical ability grew with the body, and she was not fully grown yet. Irene was disappointed that she was not interested in Irene's magical accomplishments or techniques, but was more than happy to help teach her granddaughter how to hone her skills.

Erza knew she wanted two children, but didn't want to wait for another pregnancy. Therefore, against the advice of her midwife, she managed to get pregnant again only two months after Scarlet's birth. (After that, Erza insisted on getting permanently magically sterilized to prevent further pregnancies.)

Xavier, less than a year younger than Scarlet, was also extremely talented in magical ability – Irene suspected moreso than Scarlet or his parents – but was much less interested in magic used in fights and more interested in learning about interesting uses of magic. So, at the tender age of seven, Irene had taken it upon herself to teach him enchantment. He immediately took to it, though to Irene's dismay he only used to make cleaning his room easier. Irene knew she would have time to teach him bigger, better things later – he was only nine, after all.

Most magically talented children of mages received only a cursory education in normal subjects so they could hone their magical skills for later guild life, but Erza and Jellal insisted their children should be given the normal life they were denied. That meant while the other children of Fairy Tail were at the guild, Scarlet and Xavier were stuck in a classroom. Their parents, of course, made up for the lost time learning magic on the weekends.

It was Irene's first time picking up her grandchildren from school. Normally, they would walk home on their own, but today Irene had other ideas. With Jellal and Erza both out of town, Irene was responsible for them, and she wanted to spend time with them. She showed up early to find a crowd of local parents waiting outside the gates of Magnolia's elementary school. Irene could see that the children weren't let out of classes yet, so she leaned against a section of fence and closed her eyes, waiting to hear the children.

"Who are you here for?" A voice asked her. Irene's eyes opened and narrowed, examining the woman in front of her. The woman was with a group of several other women. Irene suspected they were parents from the school.

"Why would you like to know?" Irene asked. She was pleased watching the women step back from her, thoroughly intimidated.

"We were curious. We've never seen you before," the woman asked her. "It's especially odd to see a mage here."

"A mage?" Irene asked. She had been allowed a small amount of her powers back so that she could teach the young members of Fairy Tail basic magic more effectively, but she was nowhere near her full strength even as a human.

"You are one, aren't you? Few of us non-mages have hair that's such a brilliant color," the woman tried to explain.

"Oh, I am one," Irene replied. "I'm here to pick up my grandchildren."

"Your grandchildren?" The mother asked. Another mother whispered into her ear and she made a small surprised noise. "Scarlet and Xavier! They're your grandchildren?"

Irene smiled. "I'm the mother of Erza Scarlet."

"It's no surprise that your grandchildren are so exceptional, then. You don't hear much about their father, though."

"Really?" Irene was surprised – for mages, those on the magic council were the most important names to know (and not piss off). For those who couldn't use magic, she supposed it wasn't important to know – the magic council had virtually no power over them. "He's on the magic council."

"I'm surprised we haven't met them before," one mother pointed out.

Irene smiled. "Maybe they just want their children to live a normal life? Look at how interested you are in me. If their classmates found out that Scarlet and Xavier's parents were some of the most ta2lented mages of their generation, do you think they would be able to go to school in peace?"

The womens' faces turned contemplative. "Well, their classmates know they're mages, with those hair colors."

"I'm sure," Irene said. "But knowing they're mages and knowing their mother is an S-class mage that has won many famous battles is entirely different. Even I, who lived in Alvarez before the war, heard about her defeat of pandemonium at the Grand Magic Games."

"But shouldn't they at least show up at school events for their children?" One mom asked.

Irene didn't know much about school events. After all, she never took Erza to school. Suddenly, the sound of a swinging gate and a rush of children's voices saved her.

"Grandma?!" Scarlet's voice came from the crowed. Irene saw Scarlet pulling her younger brother through the crowd towards her. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to pick you up today," Irene responded.

"Can we go to the park? I want to show you something," Scarlet said.

"Oh?" Irene asked her granddaughter.

"I think I've sorta figured out meteor," Scarlet said proudly. Meanwhile, her brother behind her was casually enchanting her hair, making it stand up on her head.

"Xavier, no magic at school," Irene reminded him. It was Jellal's idea to make them focus on their studies.

"School's over, and we're off the property," Xavier responded. Irene smiled, knowing he'd make a very good council member with that logic.

"Yes, but your sister is liable to attack you if you mess up her hair more," Irene reminded him. That caused Scarlet to feel her hair, notice it was standing on end, and requip a dagger. Xavier wasn't yet talented enough to disarm his sister, and was much less talented at fighting, so Irene took it upon herself to enchant Scarlet's dagger into a flower. She then fixed Scarlet's hair, manipulating it into a braid.

Irene could see the mothers and their children staring. Obviously Scarlet and Xavier were much better behaved at school than while at Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail tended to be a bad influence on its children. Irene began to lead her grandchildren away in case there were any more incidents, although, admittedly, more incidents would be fun.

Still, she wanted to be a good influence to her grandchildren. Her daughter and son-in-law had put their trust in her, and she wanted to do her best to honor that. Now that she had a family again, she was determined not to lose it.

* * *

 **A/N:** The end! I'm considering having another series of One Shots about normal citizens of Magnolia interacting with the guild. There may or may not be a parent-teacher conference one shot that references this incident.


End file.
